


learning to breathe

by HeartonFire



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Caretaking, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Massage, Porn with Feelings, Romance, Smut, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-30 03:54:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16757179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartonFire/pseuds/HeartonFire
Summary: After everything that happened to her, Karen needs Frank. He finds a way to take care of her that they both desperately need.





	learning to breathe

**Author's Note:**

> This is [nxbodygoesafterher's](http://nxbodygoesafterher.tumblr.com/) doing. She dropped this idea on me and I had to write it. The general idea was that Karen is usually in charge in the bedroom (because of course she is), but after all the trauma of season 3, Frank takes over and helps her process everything that happened.

Karen knew he was there before she had even finished walking through the door. Something felt different, heightened. Like the leather of his boots and the remnants of gunpowder on his skin had left a mark she could feel.

Sure enough, there he was, one boot propped up on his knee. He was shaking. Vibrating. He was on his feet before she had fully registered he was actually there. His arms were around her before she had processed the sight of him, standing in her living room.

“Frank,” she whimpered, tears welling in her eyes. She was tired of crying. She felt like all she had done, since he left on his retreat with Curtis, was cry. She was not the kind of woman who needed a man to hold her together. With Frank, he did it anyway.

“Karen,” he mumbled, lips pressing against the top of her head over and over again. “I came as soon as I heard.”

“How did you hear?” She leaned back, looked him over. She hadn’t totally believed him when he had first told her about Curtis’ veterans retreat. She had wondered, for a second, if he was getting back in. Reviving the Punisher. She hadn’t said anything. She trusted him. Looking at him now, he wasn’t bruised or stabbed or shot. He didn’t lie to her.

“Radio on the way back. Made Curtis let me drive the rest of the way.” He squeezed her tighter against him and Karen felt her body relax for the first time in weeks.

“I’m so glad you’re home.” She had felt coiled. Tense. Wound so tight she thought she would shatter to pieces at the slightest touch. But all she had been missing was this. Frank. His hands on her. His heart beating against her chest.

“I missed you,” he murmured into her hair. She didn’t expect that. They had shared so much, at this point, it shouldn’t have surprised her. But it did. He always did.

“But now you’re back.”

“And you’re safe. I’m not leaving again.”

Karen smiled sadly, nuzzling into his neck. “You can’t promise that.”

“I can,” he growled. “I am.”

His fingers were tracing over her ribcage, up her spine, into her hair. He was waiting for her. She knew what he wanted. She needed to take control. Tell him what she wanted. It was how they worked. It was what he needed. She knew that. She wanted to. She wanted him.

“Frank, I can’t,” she said, feeling hollow. She couldn’t even do this for him, find strength enough to take him to bed like they both wanted. “I just…I can’t tonight.”

He didn’t tense. He didn’t stop moving. He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I know. I know, sweetheart. Let me take care of you this time.”

Karen thought she might cry again. She lifted her head and kissed him. His tongue pressed past her lips, pulling a moan from deep in her chest. She had missed him, too. He walked her backwards into the bedroom. The bedroom that had been so cold, these last few weeks. The bedroom where they had found each other. The bedroom where she hoped he would help her find her way back.

Frank kept moving her back until her knees hit the bed. She bent them and sat. Frank pulled back, but not before one last kiss to her lips.

He knelt, hands on her knees, and Karen watched him. She almost felt like she was watching from outside her body. Too much had happened. Too many people had died. She couldn’t be here. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve him. She didn’t deserve kindness and gentleness and affection and love. She didn’t. She looked away.

“Karen,” he said, voice low and gentle. He ducked his head until his deep brown eyes caught hers and held them. “Hey. Just breathe.”

She did. She hadn’t even realized she had been holding her breath until she let it out and took a huge gulp of air.

Frank’s eyes never left hers as he pulled off her shoes, setting them carefully to the side. His callused fingertips were rough on her skin, but his touch was so soft. He trailed his hands up her legs to the tops of her stockings, and he rolled each one down slowly, kissing the skin he revealed with every inch.

Karen was on fire. She was burning alive. She couldn’t think of a better way to go.

Frank found the zipper on the back of her skirt and tugged it down to join her stockings and shoes on the floor.

He stood, then, stood over her, an almost sleepy smile on his face. Karen tried to move, tried to give him room, but he took her face in his hands and kissed her again.

“Let me take care of you,” he said, breath warm on her face. “Please, Karen.” She nodded. She wasn’t breathing again. He lay a hand on her chest, tapping one finger in time with her racing heart. She sank into the rhythm, breathing as deeply as she could manage. “I’ve got you. Let go, sweetheart.”

His hand swept over her collarbone, pulling her shirt open a little wider. He was focused, attentive. He was listening to every breath, every sound she made. With each button he opened, he kissed the skin that was revealed. When he ran out of buttons, he pushed her shirt over her shoulders and dropped it to the side. His hands cupped her neck and he kissed her eyelids. Her temples. Her jaw.

“Roll over.” His voice had an edge now. Not enough to be intimidating. Just enough to know he was in control.

Karen obeyed, folding her arms under her head to prop it up. She breathed again, muscles relaxing a little into the mattress. Frank gathered her hair over one shoulder and unclasped her bra. It joined the rest of her clothes on the floor. Frank stopped touching her for a moment, but she trusted him. He had her. He wouldn’t let her fall.

And then, he was everywhere. Lips, tongue, teeth, fingers. All the tension she had been carrying melted away. Karen felt so many sensations on her skin, she couldn’t focus on anything but the feel of him, the smell of him, the strength of him. She arched her back, pushing her ass back against him, and his hand pressed her back into the mattress.

“Trust me, sweetheart,” he murmured against her neck. “I’ve got you.”

He did. She knew he did. He slowed, fingers working through the knots in her shoulders and down her back. Karen thought she might melt into the mattress if he kept it up too much longer.

When she was so thoroughly relaxed that she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to move without help, Frank turned her over to smile down at her. His hands trailed lightly over her neck and down her arms, and he let her pull him down to kiss her again. Softer this time. More careful.

But they had never been able to keep things that way. Safe. They had never been able to stay away from the fire. They weren’t built that way. Karen bit down on Frank’s lip and he hissed, holding her to him hard enough she could feel it, but not so hard he’d add bruises to her growing collection. He knew she was recovering. He was going to take care of her.

She could feel him, hard against her thigh, and she whined a little, grinding against him. He smiled, wrapping her legs around his hips. He slid inside, and Karen felt the tears finally fall. She missed him. She needed him. He had her. She was okay.

“Karen,” he groaned, voice vibrating through her chest when he buried his face against her. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

“I know.” Karen felt her climax building. Her body was tingling with the force of his thrusts. It was everything. He was everything. She was still crying, but it was exactly what she needed. “I know.”

She crashed over the edge sooner than she expected, clutching at Frank’s back so hard she knew he’d have red marks all over his skin in the morning. She knew he didn’t care. He picked up the pace and Karen rode through it, holding him as close as she could. He grunted and came soon after, collapsing on top of her with another shower of kisses.

“Thank you,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “Thank you, Frank.”

“I’ve got you. I’ve always got you.” He kissed her cheek and rolled off, pulling her against his side.

Karen was breathing hard. She didn’t even have to think about it. Frank was here. She was here. They weren’t going anywhere.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated. :)
> 
> If you too want to prompt me (or brainstorm fics or just yell about Kastle), come find me at [mostlyactorsandfood](http://mostlyactorsandfood.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


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